


Tenebrosity

by sebastianathefirst



Series: Fire at the Heart of the World [5]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-11 03:45:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5612722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sebastianathefirst/pseuds/sebastianathefirst
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Riku and Hono find each other, at the worst of circumstances.</p><p>[set in Kingdom Hearts]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tenebrosity

Her blade stopped inches from the little creature. It was peculiar enough that it was the only one present in this part of the tower. Hono hadn't faltered like this in a long time.

The Shadow ran away instead of towards her, and she realized that this was Sora. There had to be a reason why he wasn't with Donald and Goofy and _Kairi_ when she saw them run by.

"Wait!" Hono lunged for Sora, casting her naginata aside. She pressed the frantic, squirming thing to her chest. Once again, they were reunited moments too late.

But it gave her one more reason to face Ansem.

"I'm sorry," she said once, and the Shadow stilled. For a moment she felt its talons carefully encircling her neck, underneath the base of her helmet.

She rose to her feet. The least she could do now is return him to Kairi; he'd come all this way following them. Tucking Sora close, she retrieved her weapon—making doubly sure that it was well-kept from him—and dived over the railing.

They landed several levels below, and Sora was trembling against Hono's armor. She smiled under her helm; he felt exactly like the little boy who would cling to her when he cried, when Riku wasn't around to see. She looked back up the tower at the thought of Riku, and clenching her fists at her side.

She opted to leap across the gap of the balconies, and, standing in front of the castle's entrance, pulled Sora from herself and set him on the floor. He tilted his head at his masked aide, but made no move to advance.

"They'll be coming out through here," she explained, drawing her naginata once more. When she returned to the railing, Sora followed. He leaned his small body towards the opposite direction, as if urging her to come along.

Hono bent down, and laid her naginata next to the Shadow, pointing at the paopu impression on its guard. Sora looked to it, then to back to her, with little comprehension. She extended her arm to touch his head with her fingertips.

"Bring Riku and Kairi home."

She pushed him towards the entrance with the back of her palm before jumping across to climb the tower again.

* * *

"Ansem!"

Riku—and Ansem—turned to see a figure approaching, weapon at its side. Riku watched as Ansem leaned his head back in disgust.

"Yet another failure."

Stopping the base of the stairs, the figure reached for its helmet and nearly ripped it off its face. Black hair unfurled in a messy bundle, and its eyes—

Riku froze. He knew those eyes. _Her_ eyes. He scoured countless worlds for them, and he was right.

Hono was _alive_ , and, despite the circumstances, the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

He must've been visible, for she looked back to him, and he saw her lips form his name. After several seconds, her jaw stiffened, and she tore her gaze away. All too soon, his joy was overwhelmed by the rage of not possessing his own body.

Hono pointed the blade of her spear towards Ansem, "Release him."

Ansem waved his arm. "He belongs to the darkness now. To _me_. He is beyond your reach."

"Hono!" Riku's throat burned when he called her name. She was alive, but in great danger, and his entire being hurt like nothing he'd ever felt before as he tried to send her away.

But he needed to keep at least one of his friends safe. "You have to get out of here! Get back to Kairi!"

Ansem gave Riku a look, and suddenly, the latter was inside himself again, his translucent form vanishing from Hono's perspective. He gulped at the sight of her running up to him,  _them_ , with her teeth bared.

"I can sense the darkness bubbling under your skin," Ansem drawled. "You would make a splendid commander of the Heartless. If you truly wished to be with this boy, you would've made that choice immediately." He moved forward, and Hono reared back, lowering her head to level her blade. He continued, this time addressing Riku as well. "The Final Keyhole has granted me enough power, enough darkness, to do as I will. Say the word, and you will be united with each other in darkness. No ruin, no pain, shall separate you ever again."

Riku felt his stomach lurch as Ansem uttered his own wish, one that he had been so desperate to fulfill that he resorted to darkness to escape his home. What sickened him further was that he wasn't sure he regretted all of it. It brought Hono back in the end. He called her again, his limbs heavy with phantom restraints. But she made no indication that she could hear him. He kept yelling. Anything to soothe the pain in her eyes.

Hono thrust her blade forward, only to be repelled by Ansem's gauntlet. She hopped two steps back. "Riku." Her voice was on the verge of breaking, and her shoulders quivered just a little. "You gave everything to find me, and I still couldn't reach you in time. I'm so sorry."

Riku's breath froze when he watched her blink tears out of her face. Even now, after so many years, she opted to hide them from him.

"Have you fully realized the futility of your actions?" Ansem snarled with a toss of his head. "You failed to save your world and your friends. You failed even to inspire _my_ research. You are simply...a disappointment."

Hono thrust again, switching hands frequently to follow her swings. Ansem leaped back, leaving projectiles in his wake, and she flipped the tip of her spear downwards to block with the shaft. Riku followed her movements, saw how her limbs extended, how her wrists flicked, and how her feet pointed, even on the ground.

Suddenly they were five years old, and he was watching her dancing on the leveled sand of their home.

This was the first time he thought of home since they left.

Then she dropped to her knees, and when she couldn't cut the first leg, she was able to scratch the other with a spin of her arm. Riku grit his teeth at the sting on his ankle; he'd only played with wooden swords until less than a month ago. How long had Hono been fighting?

"Riku," she called for him between sweeps, "hang in there! Sora's coming back!" And to Ansem, she said, "Saving him isn't my destiny, but you will hurt my friends no further!"

Riku let a relief wash over his chest for a moment before biting his lip and concentrating on crushing the weight in his limbs. But they felt like they were sucked in concrete. "I'll keep fighting, too!"

As if sensing his host's resolve, Ansem swung his arm, and this summoned his Guardian to do the same thing. It struck Hono from the side, and her back hit the pipes and wiring before collapsing to the ground.

"Wait! No!" For a second, Riku thought that he could move his fingers. But Ansem yanked his elbow back, before extending it, commanding the Guardian to crush Hono against the plumbing—

There was a light.

When Ansem opened his eyes again, the Guardian had vanished. And a little, _wretched_ thing stood between him and his prey.

"Your Majesty?!" Hono quickly rose to her knees when she saw the golden Keyblade at the same time Riku did. He then recalled Sora's new friends, who'd accompanied him with scarce affection, acting only on the orders of their king. There was no doubt in his mind that the king Hono addressed was the same one.

The small thing stepped backwards without looking away from Ansem. "You've bought enough time. Go back to the Princesses."

Hono's hand twitched, as if restraining herself from touching the king, whom Riku now thought resembled a very large mouse. She grabbed her weapon instead, protesting, "He has Riku!"

"He accepted the darkness, Hono. He's taken Ansem himself." Riku cringed as this king knowingly spoke of him, as he reached behind to pat Hono's arm. "There's nothing we can do for him now."

"But—" she winced visibly as the hand moved down to squeeze her wrist. Riku growled inwardly, caring little that the creature's face told all that he took no pleasure in hurting her, either.

"This whole time, you've done all that I asked. But all I do in return is deny you the things you want." The king's face fell. "Had I known that both of your friends would be Keyblade wielders, I wouldn't have stopped you from getting home."

"Then I must thank you," Ansem interrupted, urging Hono, Riku, and the king back to the matter at hand. "Darkness clung to the girl's heart as she remained separated from her friends, and the boy surrendered his to the darkness to find her."

An instant later Hono's blade clashed with Ansem's arm again, and Riku could closely see the tears forming behind her dark, disheveled hair. He saw every minute change, too, when Ansem closed his fingers around her throat, and raised her feet off the ground. It frightened him how soft her flesh felt beneath his palm. Grunting and panting, he tugged hard at his stubborn nerves.

"Remarkable, isn't it?" Ansem smirked as he tore off the head of the spear from her hand, splitting the pole apart. Her cry came out as a rough squeak when he kicked the blade out of reach. "Those who cast the brightest lights in one's heart...they, too cast the darkest shadows, drive the self into deepest darkness. Now, welcome it. Embrace it. Join your friend, and become one shadow!"

When Ansem lifted his free hand for the coup de grace, she replied with a resisting sob that made Riku bleed.

Or maybe it was the Keyblade wounding his side. The pain made Riku coil, and it made Ansem release Hono, who landed on her hips, scrambling backwards while coughing onto the floor.

Seeing the bruises forming on either side of her jugular brought Riku back to his senses, and pull harder. He managed to take control of a hand again, but it felt like his flesh was being cut with each twitch.

"That's enough, Ansem! It ends here!" The king continued to pummel, forcing Riku and Ansem towards the open Keyhole. He turned to Hono, pressing, "Fall back! I won't ask you again!"

"Hono!" Riku tried once more, desperate, and this time, she raised her head, making an _elated_ sound when she recognized his voice. "It's too dangerous! Take Sora and Kairi and get as far away as you can!"

"Riku..." She flinched when Ansem stretched an arm out, but Riku managed to tug it back inches before he could seize her again, fighting back the need to touch her after all this time.

"Please!" he begged, his shoulders trembling. "I never wanted you to see me like this! I can barely control myself!"

With a grunt, Ansem pushed, and Hono flung herself to the side—barely dodging his hand again—and grabbed the broken pole of her naginata. It was much lighter without the blade, more flexible to wield. She placed the length of it between herself and Ansem, creating enough distance for her to roll down the unguarded portion of the platform and drop to the lower level.

As she sprinted towards the exit, both Riku and Hono felt a pain deep in their chests, as if their hearts, glued together, were being wrested apart.

She kicked the door open when she heard the king's shout and an unnerving slam. She turned to see him on his stomach, groaning. She had never seen him even close to defeat. Sweat broke at the fringe of her hairline.

Above him, Ansem had her own blade in his hand, pointed at his opponent's body. "Your time has come, little nuisance."

At Hono's scream, Riku finally freed his second arm, and with it, his upper half broke out of Ansem's frame. He willed his hand to drop the sword, and it clanged at his feet, its sharp edge turned from them.

"Insolence!" Ansem growled as dark orbs appeared and hovered about them. They shook more violently as each second passed, eager to find a target. "Surrender your heart to me!"

"Riku!" In moments Hono was several feet above them, leaping a great height to return. Her body tipped into a dive, and she raised her hands outward. Riku mirrored her on instict, his eyes fixed on hers.

"So much for love."

Neither of them saw the glimmer in Ansem's before the orbs changed aim, and sped towards Hono all at once. They were precise in aiming for her heart, and they didn't tear through the other side. Her joints convulsed, as her body was filled, and her head hung below the rest of her.

This time, it was Riku who screamed, Riku with tears biting his eyes, Riku ravaged with helplessness as her body crashed onto the floor. Riku heard bones cracking. Soon enough, there were flickers of darkness lingering about her, and her thick hair fell over her dimming eyes, the ghost of her smile.

He was pulled, hooked back by the waist, and he disappeared into Ansem's body. Then he began to drift even further away, his vision darkening. This lightness was far too gentle, given the burning pain he was in. No matter how loudly he sobbed, he could not voice out Hono's name, like he was deprived of the right.

He tried to reach for her, one last time.

And the Keyblade, that which he had coveted for so long, slashed him blind.

* * *

For the first time since she'd been taken from home, Hono felt relief. There was no ache in her body: in her worn feet, in the new bruises Ansem gave her, in her heart. But neither could she feel the king taking her into his arms, nor how his fingers trembled against her skin.

"You never give up," he said with a tired smile. "But if we don't do something now, you'll disappear for good."

She noticed the orbs leaving her body, and the king followed her stare with distress. "...Riku?"

"With Ansem, through the Keyhole. There was no other way." She held her breath, and he pulled her closer. "So long as a part of you remains in the light, you won't turn into a Heartless...And I see now, that neither will he." Her eyes widened in anticipation. "You gave him the strength to fight the darkness."

She couldn't stir, squeeze the king's hands when she gave her final plea. She knew she was weeping only because her tears flowed ceaselessly, cleansing her with relief. "Save him."

His doubts of Hono's judgements now completely erased, he nodded. "I promise." He lay her back down, and gripped his Keyblade. He pointed this at her chest, and she recognized it as the first step of that promise.

She could see his smile just behind the glowing tip, and she mirrored it the best she could. It was akin to a game she'd played with her father long ago, before he would tuck her to sleep.

"Thank you. For everything."

The light pierced her, engulfing her heart. The little dark orbs faded, and she took in the king's last words before she closed her eyes.

"No, Hono. Thank _you_."


End file.
